CNET Reporters Sue HP in Spying Case

Share

CNET Reporters Sue HP in Spying Case

The Hewlett-Packard spying scandal isn't over yet. Three CNET reporters filed complaints in the California Superior Court in San Francisco on Wednesday, all of them alleging the world's largest computer maker violated their privacy and state rules on business practices by scrutinizing their private phone records.

Last year's scandal resulted in the ousting of Patricia Dunn, HP's former chairwoman, when it was discovered the company hired investigators who monitored the personal lives of seven directors, nine journalists, two employees and affiliated family members of those targeted individuals.

Dunn, it was determined, authorized those investigations in an effort to plug an internal boardroom leak, although she claimed she didn't realize HP's investigators were going to such extreme lengths.

Those lengths included pretexting, or obtaining confidential phone records belonging to the reporters and some of their family members by misleading phone company employees. In one case, investigators are also accused of conducting actual surveillance of one reporter's daily movements.

Ryan Donovan, a spokesman for Hewlett-Packard, is quoted in the article as saying that the company was "disappointed by [the reporters'] decision and will defend itself." He added that the company had apologized to the reporters and made "a substantial settlement offer" to them, their relatives and a charity of their choice.